a2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 77 
Again returning to the narrative of the Long expedition. Early 
in July, 1823, the party having rested at the mouth of the Minnesota, 
or St. Peters River, began ascending that stream. Having advanced 
a short distance they arrived at the village of Taoapa, better known 
as “Shakopee’s Village,” from the name of the chief of this band 
of the Mdewakanton. It stood in the present Scott County, Minne- 
sota, and in the summer of 1823 “consisted of fifteen large bark 
lodges, in good order; they were arranged along the river. Some of 
them were large enough to hold from thirty to fifty persons, accom- 
modated as the Indians usually are in their lodges. The ground near 
it is neatly laid out, and some fine corn-fields were observed in the 
vicinity. There were scaffolds annexed to the houses, for the pur- 
pose of drying maize, etc.; upon these we were told that the Indians 
sleep during very hot nights.” Near the village were seen various 
scaffold burials, while “In the midst of the corn-fields a dog was 
suspended, his head decorated with feathers, and with horse-hair 
stained red; it was probably a sacrifice for the protection of the corn- 
fields during the absence of the Indians.” Six miles above the village 
was Little Prairie. (Keating, (1), pp. 329-330.) Quite likely the 
structures at this village were similar to those described above, which 
resembled in outline the log cabins of the white settlers. 
W AHPETON. 
The Wahpeton, “dwellers among leaves,” constitute one of the 
seven great divisions of the Dakota, and to quote from the Hand- 
book: “ Historic and linguistic evidence proves the affinity of this 
tribe with the Sisseton, Wahpekute, and Mdewakanton. Hennepin 
(1680) mentions them as living in the vicinity of Mille Lac, Minn., 
near the Mdewakanton, Sisseton, and Teton. On his map they are 
placed a little to the N. E. of the lake.” While living in the seclu- 
sion of the vast forests which surrounded the great lakes of central 
Minnesota, the villages of the Wahpeton were probably formed of 
groups of bark or mat covered structures so typical of the region at 
a later day. Gradually they left the timbered regions, and about the 
first years of the last century were living near the mouth of the 
Minnesota River. Thence they appear to have moved up the stream, 
and during the summer of 1823 were encountered by the Long expe- 
dition in the vicinity of Big Stone Lake, in the present Lac qui Parle 
County, Minnesota. The account of the meeting with the Indians 
on the prairie, and later of their visit to the village, by the members 
of the expedition, is most interesting. On July 21, 1823, “ While 
traveling over the prairie which borders upon this part of the St. 
Peter, that connects Lake qui Parle with Big Stone Lake, our atten- 
tion was aroused by the sight of what appeared to be buffaloes 
